The M4A format is short for MPEG-4 part 14 and is a type of file created by Apple in 2004 from the QuickTime file format. It is a digital media container used to store audio components, but it can also contain other data (for example, images). The M4A is a file extension for an audio file encoded with Advanced Audio Encryption (AAC) which is lossy compression. M4A was generally intended as the successor to MP3, which was not originally designed for audio only, but was layer III in an MPEG 1 or 2 video file.
M4A Files Technical Details
M4A files are an improvement over MP3 files, basically due to their ability to offer lossless compression versus lossy compression from their competition. Files can be converted over and over from / to original audio and size. MP4 copying is restricted by DRM technology, but the M4A file type is easy to copy and distribute. For this reason, Apple uses M4A files for the sale of audio and the transfer of content to CDs and mobile music players. Being a strictly Apple product, it can be difficult to use these files in Windows, but iTunes for Windows makes it possible, as well as converting these files to Windows compatible audio formats (which involve lossy compression).
Developing
M4A files, are a type of audio files developed and popularized by Apple, since 2007 the songs purchased through the iTunes store have been in m4a format, therefore there are more than 15 billion files worldwide, MP4 and M4A files are usually confused and the two are quite similar, both are based on the MPEG-4 codec, however M4A is a file that only contains audio while the MP4 can also contain video.
What is the MP4 format?
Contrary to MP3 format, MP4 is not a video format as such, but it is a container that houses an audio track and a video track that can be encoded in different codecs.
MP4 is short for MPEG-4 Part 14, and is based on the specifications of the MOV video format, developed by Apple.
Because MP4 is a container format, its component parts, audio and video, can be encoded in different formats, which can be adapted to the implementation of the resulting file.
Generally these formats are, for AAC audio and H264 MPEG 4 video, both formats with an excellent compression / quality ratio, which allows MP4 files to be transmitted over the Internet without difficulties.
Due to the characteristics of the MP4, acronym of the English name Motion Picture Experts Group-4, in this type of container it is possible to include inside for example a complete film in high quality, which is also possible to do in a storage space really reduced.
